fairfax county who rely on federal contracts for their livelihood and ultimately that comes down to and affects fairfax county. >> fairfax county took in $23 billion worth of federal contracting money in '09. that's more than any other county in the country or even washington d.c. last night i had the opportunity to speak with virginia con member gerry connolly about those negotiations on the hill about the fiscal cliff. tonight maryland's senator ben cardin joins me for some perspective from the other side of the river. senator, we're so glad to have you. >> my pleasure. >> we are in the midst of a stalemate, the president holding onto the idea of raising rates, the congress dominated by the mouse republicans saying we want to -- house republicans saying we want to close loopholes. where are you on this and why not have a combination of the two? >> it seems like both sides agree revenues have to be an important side of the equation and that's true. the easiest way to get revenue is through the rates. the senate passed this bill.

it's in the house that allows tax relief for up to $250 to become law. that gives predictability and confidence and we can then have the revenue from the higher income to help deal with the fiscal cliff. the problem with closing loopholes is it's difficult to get anywhere near the type of revenue you can get from the rates on the higher income. >> fair enough. now if there is a compromise and you get the rates you want, don't you have to give up something? what key government function that's important to senator cardin would you put on the fable and a hey, i'll let this go to get something i want? >> we've always said it's got to be balanced between revenue and spending cuts. we understand and know we need to bring down the cost of healthcare. if we can bring down the cost of healthcare, we can save the economy money. >> would you be willing to see the medicare enrollment age raised? >> all that does is shift the cost to other people. we've got to bring down the cost of healthcare. our economy pay as to much for the healthcare dollars. we've got to get better results.

>> is there anything else you can specifically put on the table? i got to press you on this that would hurt you the way raising rates would hurt the public? >> i understand we started with spending cuts. this is part of the debt ceiling debate. we got a trillion dollars discretionary budget cuts that's in the bank. now we're talking about needing a revenue component. yes, we need to bring down the cost of healthcare and we've got to save money in our military. we're bringing our troops home. that's where we can get some savings. we can come up with enough savings to avoid the fiscal cliff now between the revenues and savings. >> the house has left town a few days and say look, there's nothing to do because there's no deal on the table. would you personally be absolutely ready to stay on the hill locked in rooms with republicans until you guys got a deal over the holidays or whatever it took? >> absolutely. we can't allow to us go off the fiscal cliff. it would be disastrous for our economy, a self-inflicted wound. we've got to get it done and compromise and i think we should stay in a locked room until it's done. >> what about taking it a if he

further, your paycheck. i get -- a step further, your paycheck. i get viewers that write in all the time and say hey. take their pay. >> that's not going to solve the fiscal cliff. >> that would give you some incentive, wouldn't it? >> just lock us in a room and we'll get it done. >> gerry connolly said look, the atmosphere up there now is a lot like the old high school lunch room with competing groups that don't really talk to each other. he said that's what it's like in the house do. you talk to your friends on the other side of the aisle in the senate? >> absolutely. we've had meetings every day. i'm convinced that we can find a way to come together and reach a compromise on this. we understand what it's going to be. we understand there's going to be some pain for paul of us, but it's going to be good -- all of us, but it's going to be good for our country and we've got to put our country first. >> the polls show americans don't believe you can get it done. >> the consequences are too great for our economy we've got to get it done.

>> inviting elected officials like senator cardin to join us in studio is just one of the ways we're committed to staying on top of this. we've divided our newsroom into four different teams to help hold lawmakers accountable, help you take action, focus on the impact to our local economy and, of course, focus on the impacts to you and your family. if you want an alert sent straight to your cell phone all about the fiscal cliff notes, you can text the cliff to the numbers 25543. moving on to same sex couples, they started lining up before midnight to be among the first to get licenses to get married in washington state. they can start tying the knot there on sunday. closer to home in maryland couples could start getting their licenses this week, but they won't be able to actually marry until the first of the year. >> reporter: i'm bruce leshan in rockville where the turnout of same sex couples was far lighter but no less ecstatic. >> so excited. i cannot believe this day is here. i cannot believe it. >> reporter: karen croning of

potomac and her partner of 29 years were just the second same sex couple to receive a license at montgomery county circuit courthouse. >> we could have gone on to d.c., but we want to be married in maryland and we cried the night and teared up i couldn't know how many times in the last couple weeks. >> party one which used to be husband and party two which used to be wife. >> reporter: loretta knight is among the first maryland county clerks to put together new marriage certificates. some rules will remain the same, but the clerk already has her first same sex ceremony booked for the wedding room after new year's day and she is ready to add the names to the registries that go back decades. >> before i used to say now i pronounce you husband and wife. now i say i now pronounce you as married. >> reporter: at montgomery county circuit court, bruce leshan, 9 news now. take a look at this, sky 9 out over wheaton today where a car went crashing into a

building. this is ennalls avenue near the intersection of university boulevard and veers mill, no hurt, but they had to turn off gas to the building as a precaution for a while. wheaton is just one of five stations along metro's red line scheduled to be shut down over the weekend. takoma, silver spring, forest glen and glenmont station are the other four. buses will run between ft. totten and glenmont. on the green line lien the shuttles will run between -- green line the shuttles will run between archive and waterfront. the yellow line will be shut down for inspections of the bridge across the potomac river. so in virginia yellow line trains will follow blue line tracks from the pentagon on up the eastern market. got all that? still to come tonight this may look like a peaceful scene in the snow, but it doesn't stay that way. we'll show you how it goes down in just seconds. >> i'm meteorologist topper shutt, high temperature only 44

today are currently temps in the 30s across the board, 39 downtown, 36 gaithersburg, 34 manassas. we'll come back and talk about how cold it will get tonight, if you'll have a wet commute tomorrow and we'll show you a tornado that occurred in a very unlikely place. >> up next evidence that newer genetic testing in early pregnancy offers a far more accurate prediction of problems than the old school tests. we'll show you.

back now for the health alert about newer genetic testing in early pregnancy, this study published today in the new england journal of medicine shows that gene scans have found flaws in 6% of the same fetuses that had been declared normal by conventional testing. those flaws can later cause problems including mental and cognitive disabilities, birth defects, heart problems. researchers say the testing is not done just to terminate

pregnancies but to provide new parents with more information. now a 9 news update, a judge determined a d.c. man is competent to stand trial on charges that he attacked people with a hammer. you remember this guy. his name is michael davis, 19, accused of killing a tourist last april and assaulting two others. davis has a history of mental disorders, but doctors say he is capable of helping the attorneys prepare his defense. davis is the brother of nfl football players vernon and vontae davis. now to the search for a sexual predator who hides behind a mask. he tricked and then attacked a hotel clerk last night at the econo lodge in woodbridge. police say it appears he telephoned the clerk posing as a guest who was locked out of his room. the clerk headed up there and in the stairwell the masked man pulled a knife, forced her into an empty room and sexually assaulted her. still ahead tonight is the chill back in the air to stay? could we get a warm-up for the weekend? let's hope. so topper will let us know for

sure up. >> next how the redskins' archrival nearly cost our team the fight song. this is weird story, but you'll like it. you've heard about the clock ticking on america's fiscal cliff, but what really happens on january 1st to you? this is a 9 news fiscal cliff note. fact, if congress and the white house don't reach an agreement, your paycheck is going to go down. the reason? because the tax withholding in your paycheck is going to increase. here's the back story. the current payroll tax cut is set to expire december 31st. in dollars and cents this means that your payroll tax withholding is going from 4.2% to 6.2%. now why is this happening? many of the policies expiring at the end of the year like the payroll tax cuts and emergency unemployment benefits were originally passed on a temporary basis. the thinking was that the economy would be in much better shape by now and the policies could expire without causing a

recession. >> you can learn more any time at www.wusa9.com and on 9 news. this has been a 9 news fiscal cliff note.

i'm colonel will bourn stationed in kabul afghanistan. i'd like to send out a many are rei christmas to my wife and family and -- merry christmas to my wife and family in northern virginia. we are gearing up for a big weekend of football here at wusa9. it all gets started saturday, the army/navy game 3:00. we've got a complete wrapup at 7:00 on game on and then sunday the big one. you can watch the skins welcoming the ravens to fedex. that will be followed by a special game on presentation. which brings us now to the team band. both teams have one, but the ravens don't really have much of a fight song and we were reminded today by pulitzer prize winning journalist george lardner that the skins almost didn't have one either because back in 1959 the man that aimed to bring the cowboys to dallas bought the rights to hail to the redskins right out from

under our team and said he'd only give the song back if then redskins owner preston george marshall would lift his veto on nfl expansion to dallas and thus, the cowboys were born and we got the fight song back. lardner calls it legal extortion. >> yes, it was perfectly legal. >> reporter: it's just business. >> yeah. they bought the rights. they had the rights and they threatened to get an injunction if the redskins tried to play that song again. ♪ hail to the redskins ♪ . >> the rights back in 1959 to hail to the redskins, they were worth only 2,500 bucks. caught on tape tonight snow may be pretty, but too much of it builds up and well, it will cause problems. this is surveillance video from turkey on a pedestrian bridge which just collapses. it collapses under its own weight and the weight of the snow. a high school student suffered minor injuries when it went down. the student is expected to be

fine and they're still trying to figure out why that bridge collapsed, but they're already in the midst of repairing it. money to rebuild in the aftermath of hurricane sandy was the hot topic at the white house today. as emily schmidt reports, emergency emergency's governor made a house call to make his plea for more aid. >> reporter: it didn't take long to see hurricane sandy's damage was bad. now officials are gunning to say just how bad. the numbers emerged at one capitol hill hearing after another this week. >> fema has provided over 14 million meals, over 16 million liters of water, over 1.6 million blankets and over 100,000 tarps. >> forced hundreds of thousands of families from their homes. >> one subway station south ferry is going to south over $500 million, nearly 600 million to repair. >> reporter: families impacted by the storm say it has been a huge blow. >> it doesn't seem like new york. i feel like we're in a third

world country right now. >> reporter: so the governors of two state hit hard by sandy are taking their case to washington. new jersey governor chris christie meeting with white house and capitol hill officials thursday, new york governor andrew cuomo making the trip on monday. combined they are asking for more than $77 billion of federal relief. white house press secretary jay carney said wednesday it's too early to say how much relief money the obama administration will request. he pointed out the administration has already designated more than $2 billion. transportation secretary ray lahood announced 10 million more dollars for new jersey thursday. emily schmidt, washington. >> that just sounds like a drop in the bucket. in case you missed it live, here's a holiday treat we've reheated for you, the lighting of the national christmas tree that took place earlier tonight down on the ellipse right outside the white house. >> four, three, two, one. [ cheering and applause ] >> the free is ball. the president and his family -- the tree is beautiful.

the president and his family are beautiful. it's a beautiful night in washington d.c., isn't it? that's a colorado blue spruce that came this way from virginia. it was transplanted in october. >> this is our third tree in as many years. our long standing tree was lost in a storm and then its replacement didn't take hold. if just goes to show nobody's job is safe here in washington. >> you know, storms have left a lot of trees in the last couple years. there are 56 trees surrounding the big one representing the 50 states, the district and our u.s. territories. they'll be hit every night through january 1st. you can hang out till about 11:00. >> it's very nice. and the one before this tree was not very shapely. so we're actually kind of happy with this tree. this tree is very nice. >> are you saying you're happy that the tree blew down? the third tree. >> the most recent tree before

this one just didn't take. >> it died in the ground, okay. it wasn't good looking. all right. you showed some pretty cool snow video earlier. check this out. this is a tornado that touched down west of auckland in hobsonville. it actually resulted in three fatalities in new zealand. they only average about seven tornadoes a year. that's because they have sort of a maritime climate. they're sounded by water, so it's hard to get big tornado are but they had one. 150 houses were dealed uninhabitable. let's take a louvre look outside, high was 44 today, our -- a live look outside, high was 44 today, our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son, 39 now, dew point coming up, winds southeast at 8 and pressure steady. here's our little weathermaker, not much to it, not a power packed system, but a little bit of rain back into southern west virginia and extreme southwestern virginia. some of this could get in here at the tail end of our commute

tomorrow especially north and west of town. temps in the 30s, 30s in bethesda, 34 in gaithersburg and great falls, 37 in fairfax and college park and already 33 in andrews and 32 in bowie. now unsettled but milder, clouds return tonight, a wet morning commute late tomorrow, especially north and west of town, hagerstown west and certainly in the mountains it will be a wet commute. milder friday, warmer over the weekend, although i just peeked at some new information. i may have to lower temperatures sunday. in the meantime here's our futurecast. 8:00 tomorrow light activity up 270, light activity out to the west, out route 7 or 50 toward leesburg. we'll put this back into motion. by 11:00 some showers gaithersburg north. notice it's all green, so it's all light activity. it's not exactly an intense system. the clouds hang tough pretty much all day. that's 2:00 on friday, even getting into the evening another round of showers possible towards gaithersburg and leesburg, but everything is

generally light. so for tonight increasing cloudiness, not as cold, a one to two blanket night, low temperatures in the 30s, winds out of the south at 10. next three days our 9 weather alerts remain green for now, 52, showers tomorrow, 63 on saturday, some showers and sunday i may have to lower temps sunday. right now we'll say 62, but i'll see you at 11:00. it may have to change as we go through the next few hours looking at more data. more showers and rain tuesday night and back to the low 50s on thursday.

in the mailbag tonight yesterday we aired a story out of south dakota to the effect they've not only banned texting while driving but while eat and putting on makeup behind the wheel as well. kelly from alexandria says good call. i agree with the states that are discouraging other activities besides using the phone while driving. our roads are too congested and seem to be ever changing. drivers need all their faculties to maneuver responsibly. i'm with you at least most of the way. i've seen folks weaving all over the road trying to get their lipstick on and fellows, do you really need to stave on the way to work? don't they have bathrooms there? on the other hand, munching your lunch on the way back from the store? that's the american way. and then there was this on the fiscal cliff from a.t.

in manassas. he says fear not the fall. the bush era tax cuts were never meant to be permanent. i don't look forward to more taxes, but the hard facts is to get out of debt somebody has to pay. the other part of the cliff is spending. congress needs to pull back spending, but that's highly unlikely without being forced. i say let it fall. i'd agree if we had no other choice, but from where i sit going off that fiscal cliff represents a disastrous failure of leadership at the top level and i think we need to demand better. also speaking of something better we got this simple prescription from tony. after watching all the republicans and democrats cheering together at the last washington redskin game maybe rg3 should be asked to negotiate the fiscal cliff discussions. i'm just saying. i'm wishing it was so, tony, but i think managing those characters over on pennsylvania avenue might be too much even for our rookie phenom. i'd settle for him whooping the ravens gangnam style. i also want some e-mail. the address here mailbag@wusa9.com.

that is our broadcast. i'll be right back here at 11:00 along with anita brikman and topper shutt and tonight we've got an emotional story about a woman who died during childbirth and how her best friend stepped up to raise her three children. don't forget, log on any time you like to www.wusa9.com. you have a great evening. we'll see you a bit later. bye bye.

♪ "e.t." demi moore's wild night out caught on camera. her bizarre behavior in miami with lenny kravitz and stacy keibler, striking strange poses, dancing by herself, is the story behind demi's hard-partying night. then -- kate leaving the hospital with will by her side. but, is the royal baby still at risk? plus -- >> new fallout from the pregnancy prank call. >> how do you know that i'm not a radio station? justin bieber's grammy snub. ♪ >> why was one of the world's biggest pop stars completely shut out. then, hollywood's biggest scandals of 2012, we're counting them down. >> if i go out with my friends, i'm 23, and i'm allowed to do that. >> lindsay's arrest and demi's reported drug overdose.